Based on the English
Nursery Rhyme:
Jack Sprat could eat no fat
His wife could eat no lean
And so betwixt the two of them
They licked the platter clean.

The Exhibition "Designing Women of Postwar Britain: Their Art and the Modern Interior" features approximately 120 works by six female designers who all emerged after the Second World War. Likely in response to the long period of emotional darkness brought on by the global conflict, these women designers burst upon the design scene with radical compositions and bold use of color. These designers immediately caught the attention of British consumers who were ready and eager for fresh, bright and progressive designs. The Exhibition, which will be displayed in the Fine Arts Center's El Pomar Gallery, showcases the work of three women in particular, Lucienne Day, Marian Mahler, and Jacqueline Groag.

In the span of twenty years after World War II (1945-1965), Britain was transformed from a nation devastated by war to an affluent consumer society. This new prosperity became evident in the modernization and stylization of home interiors.

With sincere dedication for the assistance and support, that you have given my family. I thank deeply.

Good design became more readily available to the average consumer with works by designers such as Day, Mahler, and Groag, as well as Paule Vezelay, Mary White and Mary Warren. These innovative designers contributed to the country's spirit of renewal and helped define a historical turning point in the development of international textile design.

The exhibition displays the scarves or "artist squares" from the 1940s and 50s developed by Zika and Lida Ascher, Czech refugees in London, who started a textile business in 1939. The Aschers invited the most prominent artists of the day – Henry Moore, Henri Matisse, Jean Cocteau, Alexander Calder and others – to work with them in the screen-printing workshop. The grand-scale scarves, measuring approximately 34 inches square, were printed in limited editions and the screens were destroyed after printing.

Styling the Modern, guest-curated by Shanna Shelby, features a series of approximately 35 of these vibrant scarves designed by various modern artists. This exhibition is also drawn from the collection of Jill A. Wiltse and H. Kirk Brown III.

Request More InformationThe Designing Women of Postwar Britain Collection and/or the Ascher Scarf Collection may be available to travel. For more information please call Curator Shanna Shelby or Curatorial Assistant Angela Brill at 303.832.1350.